"I've long wanted to experience the strength of the 'Rose Star God.' Your 'New Celestial Spirit Magic' looks quite similar to my Heavenly Body Magic."
Looking at Marco, Jellal wasn't afraid at all.
He had heard of Marco's reputation and was very interested in Marco's "New Celestial Spirit Magic," mainly because it resembled "Heavenly Body Magic" so closely!
"I'll let you witness it right now." Marco smiled.
He rarely encountered enemies as confident as Jellal these days.
After hearing his reputation and battle record, even the most confident people usually held back a little out of fear.
However, this Jellal before him exuded an arrogance from head to toe that screamed "I am the protagonist" and "I am special."
It was puzzling—why was this guy so confident?
Marco couldn't help but wonder, had this guy really made contact with Zeref? Or perhaps he was possessed by Zeref? If it was that Zeref, having such an attitude wouldn't be strange, given his reputation.
Marco's attitude made Jellal's expression change.
This guy wasn't taking him seriously at all, looking like he was just playing around.
Usually, Jellal was the one looking at others with disdain. Now that he was being treated this way by Marco, he naturally felt displeased.
"Nine Thunder Stars!"
Jellal waved his hand, and nine concentrated celestial bodies appeared, converging on Marco, trailing streaks of brilliant starlight.
"Buzz!"
Marco's figure vanished, dodging the starlight attack. The next second, he appeared right beside Jellal.
"Bang!"
Marco threw a punch, landing directly on Jellal's abdomen.
"Whoosh!"
Jellal reacted quickly, immediately activating "Meteor" to retreat.
This helped him disperse a lot of the force, preventing Marco's punch from hitting with full impact.
"So fast!" Marco's "Teleportation" naturally shocked Jellal.
This speed was faster than his "Meteor." He had always thought it impossible for anyone to keep up with his "Meteor's" speed.
"Buzz!"
Jellal immediately pulled back to create distance.
He reached out and clenched his hand.
In the sky above, magic seal flickered, and seven pillars of light bombarded the ground. The power of each pillar was like a falling meteorite.
It was clear Jellal meant what he said earlier.
Even if it meant destroying the "Tower of Heaven," he was going to eliminate Marco and the others.
If the tower was destroyed, he just needed to rebuild it.
As long as he was alive, he could always start over.
"Buzz!"
Marco opened "Another Dimension" once again. Several spatial rifts absorbed all seven pillars of starlight into the other dimension.
"Space Magic..." Jellal looked solemn.
He might not have seen it clearly the first time, but now he understood.
This was definitely Space Magic
. His attacks were all sucked into another space by those rifts.
"What magic are you using exactly?!"
Jellal thought he knew Marco well enough, but facts proved he didn't understand Marco's true strength at all.
This was normal.
The last time Marco fought publicly was a long time ago. The current Marco had already evolved again.
His "New Celestial Spirit Magic" wasn't easy to predict; every constellation could bring completely different magic.
Jellal had thought Marco might use that "Crystal Wall" to block his attacks, but he hadn't expected this kind of Space Magic.
There was no mention of these abilities in the intelligence he had received.
"Naturally, it's Celestial Spirit Magic. Although, calling it Heavenly Body Magic seems acceptable too."
Marco looked at Jellal with a faint smile.
The reason he was so relaxed facing Jellal was, of course, because this "Heavenly Body Magic" was severely countered by him.
Jellal's "Heavenly Body Magic" consisted mostly of attacks raining down from the sky.
Whether it was "Another Dimension" or "Crystal Wall," he could reliably intercept them.
He just needed to defend the overhead area.
"Fine! I want to see how you handle this one!"
Marco's scornful attitude caused Jellal's anger to surge.
He clapped his hands together and then spread them open, aiming at Marco as if preparing to fire a beam.
The magic power on Jellal's body erupted violently.
"Orion!"
In the sky above, the star chart of "Orion" flickered unsteadily.
This "Heavenly Body Magic" was evidently also drawing upon the power of the stars for its own use, just like "Urano Metria" drew upon starlight energy.
The destructive power of this "Heavenly Body Magic" was indeed terrifying.
Just the setup alone made the onlookers panic. If this attack were to land, they feared they would all be within the blast radius.
Seeing Jellal's attack, Marco laughed out loud.
"Orion won't listen to you."
Marco waved his hand casually.
"Orion," which had just been flickering, immediately died down.
It ceased responding to Jellal's magic. Jellal's attempt to invoke the Orion celestial body failed instantly.
The entire spell weakened dramatically, supported only by Jellal's own magic power, making its power completely different.
"How is this possible?!"
Jellal turned pale with shock, completely rattled.
When "Orion" descended, its power was like a petulant tap; the group blocked it easily, and it didn't even cause much damage to the ground.
"Didn't I tell you? Heavenly Body Magic—my magic can be that too. Furthermore, I am of a higher level than you. They will respond to me, but they won't respond to you."
Marco's words struck at the heart, directly attacking Jellal psychologically.
"..."
Jellal fell silent, his expression grim.
He had said Marco's "New Celestial Spirit Magic" was similar to his "Heavenly Body Magic," but he never expected that Marco could actually influence his magic!
"Weren't you very confident just a moment ago? Why has your expression changed so suddenly? Actually, I preferred that unruly look you had just now. Could you please recover that attitude?"
Marco spoke with a smile, showing no politeness towards Jellal.
His attitude was clear; Marco was intentionally crushing Jellal's spirit!
Mirajane's heart stirred, and she looked at Erza, who had retreated to the side.
'Perhaps this is the reason.' Mirajane thought to herself.
Jellal's existence obviously held a different significance for Erza.
Marco clearly didn't care much about Simon earlier, but with Jellal, he was obviously prepared to teach him a thorough lesson.
Erza watched the two fighting with concern, but her gaze was focused more on Marco.
She was worried about Marco getting hurt.
She didn't sense anything wrong with Marco's behavior; as long as he didn't get injured, it was fine.
Erza could clearly sense that Jellal was showing no mercy, with every move intended to kill.
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